In this week’s episode we begin our discussion through some of the questions raised by Oliver O’Donovan’s work Begotten or Made? We’re joined by Dr. Matthew Loftus as our medical expert and contributor, to discuss the issues provoked in this section of text:

When every activity is understood as making, then every situation into which we act is seen as raw material, waiting to have something made out of it. If there is no category in thought for an action which is not artifactual, then there is no restraint in action which can preserve phenomena which are not artificial. This imperils not only, or even primarily, the ‘environment’ (as we patronizingly describe the world of things which are not human); it imperils what it is to be human, for it deprives human existence itself of certain spontaneities of being and doing, spontaneities which depend upon the reality of a world which we have not made or imagined, but which simply confronts us to evoke our love, fear, and worship. Human life, then, becomes mechanized because we cannot comprehend what it means that some human activity is ‘natural’. Politics becomes controlled by media of mass communication, love by analytical or counseling techniques. And begetting children becomes subject to the medical and surgical interventions which are the theme of this book.

As always, feel free to share, and go subscribe to our iTunes RSS. Also, if you have not reviewed or rated us, please take a moment to do so.

Soli Deo Gloria